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Whois lookup
Who owns this domain? Find out with Whois.
What Whois can tell you
Using Whois domain lookup is a good way of obtaining information about a domain that has already been registered, such as its date of registration or expiration. You can use our Whois domain lookup tool to find out who owns a domain that uses the following extensions: .com, .net and .shop.
Since Nominet is responsible for all .uk domains, you should perform Whois lookups for .uk domains directly with them. They will also provide you with technical data such as the nameserver being used. In many cases, this makes it clear which provider the respective domain is registered with.
If you would like to request data about a domain directly at a particular registry, select the respective partner on our registrar page.
Contacting the domain owner
Since the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on 15th May 2018, the personal contact details of domain owners in the EU can no longer be published. You can only find out who owns a domain by contacting the domain provider, who then forwards the request to the domain owner. Reasons for contacting the domain owner may include general and technical inquiries, domain sale inquiries, as well as information in the event of possible misuse of the domain or domain name.
With .uk domains, Nominet will ordinarily not release your personal data without your consent. The exception to this is in the case of a legitimate request from, for instance, a law enforcement agency or a trademark holder (or their solicitor) wishing to enforce their intellectual property rights.
How Whois domain lookup works
Whois database
Whois domain searches are facilitated through a Whois database – a central location where publicly accessible information on registered domains is stored. (Note: Whois databases no longer provide data for EU-owned domains due to the GDPR.)The registrars that administer the various domain extensions each maintain their own Whois databases. For example, Nominet administers a Whois database for .uk domains.
Whois search details
You can use two versions of Whois domain lookup: the domain lookup tool on this page provides you with the domain name, registration date and expiration date for a variety of domain endings. Meanwhile, more detailed information can be found on our registrar page.Contacting the registry directly may be best in some cases – such as Nominet for .uk domains.
Privacy
Which data is made public via the Whois service depends on either the respective registry or ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers). The registries determine which data is collected.For instance, as the registry for the .uk top-level domain, Nominet determines what information is recorded in the Whois database for those domains.
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Whois domain lookup
FAQ – Frequently asked questions
Whois lookup can confirm if a domain has been registered or not, this may also provide information such as the Registrar and Registry information as well as the domain status, the created, expiry and updated dates and nameservers for any given domain.
A domain check helps to identify whether or not a particular domain name is available to register. A Whois lookup gives you access to further limited information regarding a registered domain. Should your requested domain name still be available, you can use both the Whois service, as well as carrying out a domain check in order to easily register your desired domain name with IONOS. Furthermore, we recommend suitable domain alternatives in case a particular domain name is registered already. Regardless of whether you use our Whois lookup or domain check tools, our main goal is to offer you the best support possible on your way to your domain name of choice.
Due to the GDPR we will no longer publish your personal data to the Whois database. All personal information is hidden and cannot be accessed, so you can rest assured that your data is safe with us.
Yes, Whois supports .com domains. Just like with other domain extensions, you can look up who owns a .com domain with Whois or whether certain .com domains are available. However, it should be noted that the information available during this .com domain lookup will depend on where the domain is registered; the Whois database is not an independent venture, but deals with multiple registrars that contribute information. These registrars manage different domain extension categories. For example, domain extensions are broken down into several categories: generic top-level domains (gTLD), new top-level domains (nTLD), and country code top-level domains (ccTLD). The domain extension .com (which stands for commercial) is a gTLD domain and is the most common gTLD, others include .org and .net. gTLDs are international domains and the information on these domains is handled by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN "new top-level domains"). However, due to the GDPR only a limited amount of information will be made available in the .com domain WHOIS lookup search results.
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